The White Wings
by Airess Byrd
Summary: The greatest of heroes don't always have to be powerful or strong. Sometimes, the most unlikely hero will be the one who doesn't have power or strength, but the courage to stand up and do what's right, or the love one would share with a sister. Princess M


Standard disclaimer: Listen people, Capcom owns Breath of Fire II and all association thingys with it. I don't own any of this… just the idea for the story ;

The greatest of heroes doesn't always have to be powerful or strong. Sometimes, the most unlikely hero will be the one who doesn't have power or strength, but the courage to stand up and do what's right, or the love one would share with a sister. Princess Mina Windia reflects what happened before, during, and after her sister Nina fought the Guardian of the Wing to get the Mark of the Wing.

When did this all start? When did this madness overcome the world and try to plunge it into eternal darkness? I wish I could say that I knew the answers to these questions, but the problem is, I cannot. It's actually funny, really. I mean, I should know the answers… but I do not.

I was not originally raised to be the heir to the great nation of Windia and the Fae Tribe. That duty fell to my older and far wiser sister, Nina. Since we were small children, we have always been close. I remember when my sister and I would play pranks on the palace guards, or sneak around and try not to get caught. Then, on my sister's twelfth birthday, she had her Wing Day. The Wing Day among the Fae Tribe is like our birthdays. The Wing Day is the day we get our wings. Nina's wings were the most beautiful color of ebon I had ever seen. I remember she was really excited. She ran to greet our mother and father, King Kenny and Queen Hiena of Windia. She wanted to show them her great pride. Instead, they recoiled in terror and disgust. Neither she, nor I, understood such an act, especially from our own parents!

But, there was a prophecy circulating in Windia that started over four hundred years ago, when we began to lose our ability to transform into the Great Bird. There was a legend that a child born of the Windian Royal bloodline would been born to the royal family. This child would have black wings. It was said that this child would bring ruin and destruction upon the nation of Windia. At the time Nina had her Wing Day, neither she nor I knew about this legend, the Curse of the Black Wings. To prevent this legend from coming true, there was a law that was created that if that child would to be born with black wings, that child would be executed, all in order to protect Windia. Mother and Father were distraught upon finding out that Nina was the child of that prophecy. However, they were not about to let Nina die. Father decided to send Nina to the Magic School in Hometown, banishing her from Windia… all in order to protect her.

After this, I was introduced as the new heir to the throne. I must say, that I missed my sister terribly, but sometimes I would sneak out to visit her. Mother didn't like that idea very well, but she never seemed to stop me from going. In fact, she enlisted the aid of two bodyguards to accompany me to Hometown every time I wished to visit my sister. But, if I mentioned my sister around my parents, or anyone else for that matter, they pretended that they had no idea what I was talking about. I never did understand that.

Having grown up as princess has not been easy. I was denied many freedoms normal people take for granted. I quickly had to mature and act like a proper princess. I didn't have many friends growing up. To ease the loneliness I got a pet, which I named Suzy. Hee, the funny thing about Suzy was, she was a pig. Needless to say, I got a many of a strange stare whenever I went out into public (when I was allowed, that is) with Suzy. It was because of her that I met the two rangers Ryu Bateson and Bow Doggy. I had just gone to Hometown to visit my sister, with Suzy and my bodyguards in tow. Suzy got scared by a monster and ran off. I was devastated. We went to the local ranger guild to hire a ranger to go out and find and retrieve Suzy.

I overheard the guild master arguing with two young rangers about the job. Apparently, they didn't want to go chasing around for my poor lost Suzy. So, I decided to walk in and turn on the water works. No one has ever been able to withstand my sad, puppy dog eyes look. The ranger named Bow seemed not to be able to resist. He and his partner took the job and thus, the search for Suzy had begun.

It took a couple of days, but they finally returned with my poor Suzy. They were so nice. They took care of Suzy and even cleaned her up. I smiled and gave both of them a peck on the cheek to show my gratitude in addition to paying the five hundred zenny that was the award. I would not see the Ranger Ryu for another month or so. Around that time, I was on my way to visit my sister again, but this time, my guards and I were attacked by the Joker Gang. I was kidnapped and used as bait to get at my sister, who by this time had grown into a very powerful elemental mage. They wanted to use her as a mage to do their dirty work for them.

They harassed her to no end, even going as far as to threaten to kill me if she didn't surrender to them. Upset, and not knowing what to do, she finally decided to give into their demands when they attacked her at the Magic School. She was powerful enough to fight off their attack, but she was far more worried about my safety than her own.

The ranger Ryu had heard rumors about a winged girl living at the School and went to investigate. I later learned that he was on a mission to find a winged thief to clear his friend Bow's name for a crime he did not commit. Ryu and a Woren girl named Katt Chuan overheard the conversation between Master Yoji and Nina and offered to go and help Nina. They came to the Joker's hideout and risked their lives to save both Nina and me. They fought Joker's goons and even Joker himself. When Joker had turned himself into some kind of hideous demon, my sister fought along side of Katt and Ryu to stop him.

After they had defeated him, we all returned to Windia. My sister was a hero! Maybe Mother and Father would let her stay and live with us this time. When we got to the entrance to the underground maze, the guard did not recognized Nina! I stepped up and told the guard to let us through. He did and we trekked through the labyrinth and came topside in the castle garden, where Mother and he guards and handmaids waited. I quickly ran to Mother and gave her a big hug. I then told her about how Ryu and Katt had saved my sister and I, and asked now could Nina live with us in the castle. Mother looked upset and as always, everyone else looked confused, asking themselves, 'Mina has a sister?' and the such. Mother thanked Ryu and Katt for what they had done, but said that I did not have an older sister and they could not stay in the castle, for commoners were not allowed in the castle. So, Nina, Katt, and Ryu left the castle.

I was beyond angry! I demanded that Mother told me everything. She would not budge and told me that such a matter should not be a concern to the crowned heir and princess of Windia.

For some time, Father had become very ill. I think it had something to do with missing Nina so much. A while after Nina left again, a priest of the Saint Eva church came to talk with Mother and Father. He told Father that the reason he was sick and things were not going so well in Windia was that the Fae Tribe had not put their faith into Saint Eva, and if we did so, everything would be alright. Now, one should know that we of the Fae Tribe are nature attuned, meaning that we do not worship any gods or the such. The only god that Father, or any of the Fae for that matter, had ever given respect to was the Dragon God, Ladon. So you can imagine that Father would not make such a decision that affected all of Windia to the point where they would be worshiping Saint Eva. He felt that he did not have the right to make that decision for the people of Windia. The priest was not happy with this fact.

It was around this time that Nina, Ryu, Katt, and a woman with blue hair and a snake tail had come to back to Windia. Nina gave no heed to how the guards acted, she just told them that the princess Nina had come to talk to her mother and father. I was overjoyed to see Nina again. Father would be happy to know that Nina had come home. I overheard Nina talking to Mother about something called the Mark of the Wing. She said that she wanted to obtain the power of flight, to go to Evarai and investigate the Saint Eva church. It was then I learned about the Curse of the Black Wings. I couldn't believe it. All these years of loneliness for not only me, but for Nina too! It wasn't fair! I never knew why my sister could live in her own country.

I ran to the Ceremonial Tower of the Great Bird and cried and cried for a long time. I cursed myself to my naiveté, never knowing what hardships my sister had to face. Her loneliness and grief was nowhere compared to mine. What's worse was, after the person received the Mark of the Wing, they could become the Great Bird, but they would lose their human self, too. I… I couldn't let that happen! My sister had a great destiny ahead of her… she had told Mother that they had been fighting demons that were involved with the Saint Eva church. She was going to Evarai, the capital of the Saint Eva religion and find what was fact and what was fiction. But, if she turned into the Great Bird, she'd never been able to be human again. I couldn't let her forfeit her life like that!

After Nina had obtained the Mark, she had talked to Father and was going to do the ceremony to become the Great Bird the following morning. I couldn't let her do that. While she and her friends were asleep, I sneaked into her room and stole the Mark and headed up to the Ceremonial Tower of the Great Bird to become the Great Bird. Nina found out and she and her friends quickly ran up the tower and try to stop me. I barricaded the doors so they would not be able to stop me. I heard Nina plead with me over and over again not to do what I was about to do. I heard her sobbing and repeatedly beating on the doors. I heard Katt and Ryu's voices screaming at me to stop. The snake woman (who I found out was named Bleu) even told me not to do it.

I told Nina that I had no idea about what had went on and told her how much I hated myself for not knowing and understanding what the real reason for her being banished was. I said that I hated myself for not knowing about what she and her friends were out doing. I told her that there was so much more she still needed to do. As I stood on the platform and raised the Mark high in the air, I felt no regrets. I wanted to do this for my sister. They finally managed to break the doors down and come charging in, just as the column of light enveloped me. Nina screamed out and cried as my body was transformed from my human self to the body of the Great Bird.

As the last of my human mind faded, I told my sister that I had now become her wings and to call upon me whenever she needed me. She cried out my name. My last words to her, my last request was for her to still call me Mina… my dear, sweet sister would now be able to fly through the sky, on the white wings.

The end


End file.
